A study of tropical mountain glaciers in the Andes and Himalayas shows that nothing like the global-warming-driven melting of the glaciers has happened for at least 2,000 years, and temperatures in those regions have not been as high for 5,000 years. The study found that Peru’s Qori Kalis glacier retreated 10 times faster — 60 meters per year — in the last 14 years than it did during the 15 years from 1963 to 1978. The study also found that precipitation in the glacial regions has increased over the last century, proving that rising temperatures are the cause of the glacial retreat. Glacier melt is contributing to rising sea levels and threatens the water supplies of many high-altitude communities.

The study also showed an abrupt global cooling about 5,200 years ago. Because tropical climates are relatively uniform, the abrupt cooling and today’s abrupt warming demonstrate the sensitivity of the global climate.

Separately, a study of sea surface temperatures in the tropical North Atlantic proves that about half of the record temperature increase last year was due to global warming, which is 1.5 times as much as natural variation and the effects of El Niño combined. The temperature increase was a major cause of last year’s deadly hurricane activity. Several previous studies had attributed the increased warming to a 60-to-80-year natural cycle.

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